Born Loser Magazine is excited to share Homeschool's newest single, 'Bound To Be'! I've personally been a fan of Tom D’Agustino's music for years now, and we are beyond honored to be a part of this release.
We recently had the opportunity to talk to Homeschool about soggy hot pockets, me being a little baby coward, and most importantly their latest single. Check it out below!
Rapid-fire Questions
1. What have you been listening to lately?
“Hannah” the Lomelda album. Very good.
2. You ever eat a hotpocket while swimming in the east river?
No… How did you…? Yes, yes I did.
3. What kind of hotpocket was it?
Pepperoni Pizza, I believe. It was not hot.
4. When I die, can you play the Cheers theme song as they lower my casket?
If your family and friends find that appropriate, I can make myself available.
5. What is the worst piece of advice you can give me?
Eat a lot of fried food, drink a lot of alcohol, and then lay down immediately.
6. Last song that made you cry?
“Blur” by Pleasure Systems
7. Make me cry.
You suck. You’re a little baby coward.
8. Which 3 historical figures would you start a band with?
Eleanor Roosevelt (bass), Frances Perkins (guitar), John Brown (drums)
9. On a scale from 1-10 how well would you say this interview is going so far?
I’d give it a 9
10. Any artists that you’d like to share
Sure. Give my guys Darry Rahn and Renny Conti a spin, they’re lovely songwriters. Annie Blackman is the GOAT and Jupie makes my ears all warm and fuzzy when I listen.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. I’ve been a fan since 2015, so I’m so excited about this opportunity. I still listen to Pick Me Apart and Somewhere religiously.
Wow! That's an impressive run. Thanks for Stick-ing Around ;) That was lame.
Speaking of being a fan for a while, it’s been really cool to see you explore different sounds, write about different themes, and evolve as an artist in general throughout the years. What would you say has helped contribute to your growth as an artist throughout the years?
Hmmm. I wouldn’t say it was any one thing. But I think creativity is a relationship that you have with yourself, and I would argue, some kind of ‘other’. Just like any relationship, you need to work on it and be open and listen, in order to grow as a partner. Therapy has been very helpful in that regard. It has also given me permission to pursue this relationship. Also my friends and my family have never once expressed an ounce of judgment or doubt that I am capable of carving a life out of the stuff I try to make. So when you have that, you can grow pretty tall.
I know that you also act. Does that creative outlet influence your songwriting and vice versa? Or are they both on two completely different planes?
I think acting has allowed me to tap into certain experiences and emotions that I was otherwise unable to tap into. Acting also teaches you that the outcome of the experience is irrelevant and actually detrimental to what you’re trying to do, which is to engage in a process of actions fueled by intentions. I’ve stopped worrying so much about what my music is going to do for me and have focused more on my relationship to the process of making it.
Congratulations on your new release “Bound to Be”, it’s an absolute honor to be able to premiere it. Can you talk to us a bit about the single?
Thank you! This song came about as lockdown was loosening up and I had moved back to Brooklyn. Life was returning to somewhat normal and I was trying to figure out which direction my life should or would take. “Bound To Be” questions a lot of what I was seeing around me in music - artists blowing up from Tik Tok or nepotism or whatever and it got me in this shitty head space where I was either jealous or kicking myself for not selling myself enough. Not good when you’re trying to make things.
So, I kind of just came to this acceptance that, look, you’re probably gonna end up broke and alone, pumping gas and without health insurance. But at the very least you get to live a life that is attempting to be truthful. You’re trying to make something that is authentic to your experience and to your understanding of the world - not a commercial.
What inevitably sprung forth from that exercise was an exploration of my fluid gender and how if my art can convey some of the messiness and the beauty that I feel inside, then maybe I am on the right path. Maybe not a “successful” path, but a real path.
What were some of the inspirations, and what was the creative process of how it came together?
I am always fascinated by artists who can blend different genres together to paint a vivid but clear picture. So, when you’re listening you can hear several different artists or visions at once, but they slot into each other perfectly. There’s a mixture but it’s not hodge podge, it’s a blend. I’m not saying I accomplished this, but that was kind of a goal at the outset. I was pretty focused on rhythm for this track - what the percussion and feel of the song would be, rather than what it was trying to say. All the words and visual stuff came later. So yeah, I fucked around with drum samples and textures for hours and then wrote a song on top.
Is the end product similar to the original idea you envisioned in your mind?
It’s hard to say because I didn’t really have an envisioned or preconceived idea of what the song would be. I had a feeling that I couldn’t really describe, so I used music to try to describe it for me. When the song was done, I felt that it understood what I wanted and I was happy with it.
Was there a specific sound or emotion that you wanted to convey through the single?
The one thing I remember wanting clearly was an interesting mixture of more analog-sounding and electronic drums. The salsa beat used throughout executed this perfectly for me because it has such a human sound to it, hands tapping on wood and canvas, you can hear finger-tips and a kind of rhythmic breathing, but then this very digital beat takes over and there's an odd harmony there.
Do you have a specific formula for creating a song, or does it vary from song to song?
It depends how I feel. If I am in a somber or contemplative mood, I’ll pick up the acoustic guitar and start plucking out a melody so I can have something to sing over. That’s when I know I have something that needs to be said, but the guitar needs to go first so I can speak over it. If I am feeling kind of charged up, looking to have some fun, I work in Logic forming beats and experimenting with sounds and seeing what happens sonically as opposed to lyrically or thematically.
What is the most important thing to you when it comes to songwriting?
Don’t do it. Or at least that’s what I try to tell myself. If I sit down with the thought in my mind: “I am going to write a song now,” it’ll sound like shit, guaranteed. But if I pick up the guitar and it feels good in my hands, if I want to hear music come out of it, then I know I should keep going. In other words, I only do “songwriting” when I feel some kind of creative impulse. Even then, I’ll play games with myself and ignore it. So only when it gets really strong, almost like a nagging pain, will I kind of indulge in it. This seems to ensure that the song will at least be honest, and not have an agenda or anything.
I know that you’ve collaborated with artists like Samia, Overcoats, and Bartees strange in the past. Can we expect any other collaborations anytime soon? And do you have a dream collab?
I have a feeling there will be many more collabs. I keep finding new artists and have so many talented friends who make music that I can’t help but kind of drag them into the shit I’m trying to do. Dream Collab: Doja Cat, 10000%.
What can we expect to see/hear from Homeschool in the near future?
More music! More me popping up on T.V.! More Dresses!
Is there anything that you want our readers to know?
I really enjoy NBA basketball but have very few people to discuss it with. If you share this interest, please reach out to me so we can discuss. Thank you.
To wrap things up, do you have any questions for me?
How long have you been doing this? Also, why do you do this?
I’ve been doing this since 2017! I just love music. I love helping share people’s art, even if it’s in the smallest, most minuscule way. The fact that we as humans are able to have an idea in our minds, create something out of that idea, and be able to use what we created to connect with other people and invoke emotions is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL thing to me.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! Looking forward to the official release!
Thank you for having me! I enjoyed answering these questions :)
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